When I heard about it I was sitting in the cafeteria at school eating breakfast. My friend told me a bomb or something went off at the World Trade Center. My first question was, "where is that?" The principal let the teachers skip lessons all day to let the students watch coverage on TV (since all of the classrooms had TVs). I remember watching the towers collapse, one right after the other, while I was in my american history class. I'll never forget that moment. The class was completely silent for about a minute or so, then we all broke down at once. Even my teacher couldn't keep himself composed.
I was in Stillwater, OK, barely an hour away from OKC when the bomb went off there. I didn't lose anyone myself, but plenty of my friends lost aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. It was a really tough time, especially since we were only in 4th grade.
I guess because of OKC, 9-11 really got to me on a personal level. OKC had the proximity, 9-11 had the magnitude, those two put together made me unable to feel safety on any level for quite a few months. Along with that came guilt that I was somehow spared. I can remember thinking to myself, "this is all my fault." It made no sense logically, but I honestly believed that. I still don't understand, to this day.